Pupil Premium 2013 - 2014

We received a total of £496,563 with an additional £4000 for Looked After Children (children in Care). We had no carry forward from 2012-2013.

The Pupil Premium was used to support the learning of all vulnerable students in the following ways

External Consultancy - £23,150

The school employed the services of School Improvement Associates (SIA) to focus on strategies for improving progress, raising attainment and closing the gap for PP students. The Consultancy is run by and employs advisors with significant experience in teaching, school leadership and school improvement work. Subject specialists spent a day with each Curriculum Area, with follow up visits where required. Both Staff and Governor Training were also given by the Consultancy as part of the school’s Training programme

Additional staffing costs – £339,057.06

· The two members of staff who were promoted internally to the role of Associate Assistant Headteachers to develop the work begun 2011-2012 to transform the learning at KS3 were employed for a final year to ensure stronger foundations for success at KS4 and to put a number of strategies into place regarding KS3 attainment and progress. PP funding was used to cover the uplift from their substantive salary to the Associate Assistant Headteacher scale. They continued the Motivation Group, further developed thematic learning and Building Learning Power into KS3 to raise standards for all students and introduced the Children’s University. The cost of Children’s University was covered by PP funding for all PP students in year 7.

The Breakfast Club Co-ordinator role was been continued to run Breakfast clubs in Maths and English throughout the year for Year 8s who were identified as being below expected levels in either or both subjects. The Breakfast Club Co-coordinator also continues to be responsible for running a weekly Film Club for KS3 where students developed their communication skills by writing about the films they see.

Contracts were renewed for a further year for the two HLTAs in English who work with PP students and other targeted vulnerable students on reading intervention schemes.

The Learning Mentor role was extended to work with all PP students and other targetted students in the school

A Maths teacher employed for one day a week to work entirely with PP students; particularly Years 11, 10 and 9 who were withdrawn from lessons for intensive 1 to 1 or small group support

An additional Maths teacher full-time to work with small groups of targeted students

A Maths HLTA continues to support targeted students.

Local Authority Maths Advisor employed by the school for summer term 2013

An additional EAL TA was employed to support targeted students, many of whom arrived in UK with limited or no English language

Creation of 2 HLTA posts to support students (vast majority PP) in KS3 in the breakthrough and nurture groups.

Staffing costs for KS3 1to1 tuition

Staffing costs for Saturday Schools. Student voice has been extremely positive regarding Saturday Schools. From October 2012 until the end of the June 2014 exams the school ran Saturday Schools for Year 11, and some Year 10 and Year 9 students taking GCSE exams. They ran from 9.00 until 3.00 every Saturday during term time and covered all the exam subjects with a focus on Maths and English All were delivered by school staff and attendance continues to be impressive with some Saturdays seeing over 200 students present.

Ex, very experienced, Head of Year, employed part-time to assist disaffected students in classrooms and support staff in ensuring these students were learning.

Ex Connexions advisor employed directly by the school to interview every PP students regarding careers and those students vulnerable regarding possibly becoming NEETS.

Additional, part-time CP Officer to support our most vulnerable students.

Large team of Year 12 students who mentored vulnerable Year 11s weekly after school in both Maths and English to raise attainment and progress.

TA in MFL to support vulnerable students

Invigilators for Early Entry examinations in March and June 2013.

Cost of resources - £157,505.94

Bursary of £50 to every PP student in the school to be spent in the school shop on uniform, equipment, revision materials or Celebration trip.

£50,000 divided between the Curriculum Areas on a pro-rata basis to be used by the Curriculum Area to support the learning and attainment of the PP students in their curriculum Area, with a focus on key Stage 4 students.

Emergency ‘crisis’ support for individual students (this includes travel costs, laptops, uniform, support for various activities)

A reading book (appropriate for age, gender and reading level) was purchased and wrapped to give to every student in the school as a present at Christmas. Work on these books then took place in Lesson 5 for the first half term in the Spring Term 2014 to continue to develop reading in the school

Resourcing of Year 8 Breakfast clubs in Maths and English with appropriate materials

Rewards package for PP students who attended revision sessions and Saturday schools.

Weekly support for the Gifted and Talented Year 11 students

Targeted individual support for under-performance in Year 11

A residential for a group of students in Year 8, the ‘motivation group’ who were identified as under-achieving and who needed to build their self-esteem and resilience.

Various trips and activities in school for the Year 8 motivation group

Training courses on effective strategies for use of PP for members of staff.

Mathletics on-line programme for all PP students across KS4 and KS3

Pixl strategies to raise attainment

A celebratory day trip for those students who made the most progress across KS3.

Alternative provision after school, Evening School, for disaffected and vulnerable students, especially in Year 11

Doddle, an online homework resource purchased and made available to all students to enable increased opportunities for study at home.

Additional £4000 for Children in Care

Laptops where needed

1 to 1 tuition where needed

Impact of funding

All Curriculum Areas have worked with SIA Consultancy this year and have used their devolved funding to support PP students in a wide variety of ways. For example, PE ran after school sessions; MFL took all their PP students to a revision Conference, English bought all their PP students revision materials.

In Key Stage 3 the work of the Associate Assistant Headteachers over the last three years has embedded Language for Learning in the school. This has been seen in Lesson Observations, especially Lesson 5 and SEAL work, and through the acquisition of lanyards and badges for using the learning muscles effectively.

The motivation group students continue to see a reduction in negative points and an increase in rewards as a consequence of going through the programme. Those students who have been part of the programme in Year 8 now mentor other students when they are in Year 9.Twenty year 8 students took part in the year 8 motivation group. They were chosen by Head of House as needing extra support to improve their behaviour for learning, as well as to ensure greater progress in the classroom. The data below shows a comparison of those who completed the yearlong programme and those that did not respond to the interventions put in place. The motivation group strategies were able to ensure that students had less time in seclusion and made more progress.

Year 8

2013/14

Those students that are completing the programme

Those students who have not responded

Difference

Average days in Seclusion Summer 2014

0.36

0.86

0.5

Maths

1.23

1.14

0.09

English

1

0.92

0.08

1to1 tuition

KS3 1to1 tuition took place in the Autumn and Summer terms of year 9. The Pupil Premium students targeted were highlighted by their teachers as not on track to achieve their KS3 targets, and in need of extra support before the start of KS4. 86% of those targeted for Maths made significant progress after their 1to1 tuition and 82% of students tutored for English.

Year 7 and 8 Breakfast Club

Students eligible for the year 7 catch up funding were invited to come and take part in both English and Maths Breakfast Club. This allows them to take part in a short sports session, have breakfast and then do twenty minutes of either Maths or English. Last year 71% of those that took part made at least one part level of progress in English over the half term of intervention and 60% in Maths.

Year 8 ‘aim higher’ group

Year 8 students with high KS3 target grades who need extra support and motivation to achieve these were invited to take part in the ‘aim higher’ group. This involved extra Maths sessions using ‘Doddle’ and a range of Business and Enterprise days in order to encourage teamwork and motivation. The table below indicates that those that actively engaged with the activities available on average made greater progress than in comparison to the rest of year 8.

Average Point Score Progress From Autumn 2013 to Summer 2014

All Year 8

1.61

All aim higher students who actively engaged

1.93

Year 7 Children’s University

Year 7 students were encouraged to take part in the Children’s University and all pupil premium students given a free ‘passport’. This enabled them to log hours in extracurricular activities, building up to a final graduation ceremony at Peterborough University. The table below indicates that those that logged more than 18 hours on average made more progress than all of year 7 and those that logged fewer hours. In total 85 Year 7s took part in the Children’s University.

Average Point Score Progress From Autumn 2013 to Summer 2014

All Year 7

1.89

Year 7s who logged more than 18 hours

2.28

Year 7s who logged less than 18 hours

2.09

The work of the Intervention groups, and the HLTAs in English have seen improvements in the reading levels of students and progress in their Maths and English (case studies available). The work of the EAL department continues to support students new to English to settle as quickly as possible and achieve impressive results (case studies available).

The Learning Mentor interviewed every PP students in the school regarding their progress and any additional support they might require. The Connexions advisor had a careers interview with every PP student Years 9, 10 and 11 and vulnerable students. Currently the school has reduced its NEET figure from 4% to 0%.

Saturday Schools continue to attract vast numbers of students, often over 200, and in Student Voice at the end of Year 11 are rated as being extremely effective by students. Parents and staff value them also.

Additional staffing in Maths has allowed intervention to be really focused on particular groups of students.

The work of the ex -Head of Year with individual, disaffected students, has had a significant effect on their attitude to learning. The additional part-time CP Officer has supported our most vulnerable students.

The team of Year 12 and 13 mentors have been extremely successful with their mentees in the 2014 GCSE English exams with a 83% success rate of reaching target and 38.5% achieved two grades higher than their target grade

Achieved

Number

Percentage

On target

32

49%

+1 grade

18

28%

+2 grades

4

6%

+3 grades

1

1.5%

The motivational package for Year I included speakers such as Bonita Norris, youngest British woman to climb Everest, and a ‘Secret Millionaire’; both of whom made an impact on the students. 57 key or extremely vulnerable students given Assertive Academic Mentoring and as a consequence 81% achieved Grade C+ in English, 56% Grade C+ in Maths and 46% achieved 5ACEM.

548 out of a total of 611 students, 90% of students offered the £50 bursary used all or part of it to fund a range of items from the school shop such as uniform, stationary and study guides as well as paying for educational trips out of school .

The reading books at Christmas were successfully used as part of Lesson 5 for the Spring Term and the secret reader competition which made up part of the initiative led to many entries from the students. Visits to the library by students has increased, reading continues to be a priority for the school and has led to the introduction of the Accelerated Reader scheme in Year 7.

Year 7 Catch up Premium

Allocation: £40,000

Staffing: £17,136

One member of staff was employed to coordinate intervention groups in learning support. These groups target low attainers in year 7.

One teacher worked with the year 7 nurture group. This includes students who arrive below a level 4c and need targeted support to ensure their integration into mainstream lessons.

Staff training: £2,631

Staff were trained in the Read Write Ink and Sound reading schemes

Cost of resources: £20,233

English and Maths

TwentyTwenty Learning

All students eligible for the year 7 catch up premium took part in collapsed English and Maths days run by TwentyTwentyLearning. These were specifically tailored to deliver key Maths and English skills to students in small groups to enable them to develop the knowledge and understanding to achieve level 4 and beyond.

PET-Xi

PET-Xi worked with students eligible for both the Maths and English Catch Up Premium. Students used thematic learning to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. The programme included problem solving tasks, practical application of literacy and numeracy and the physical construction of their dream city in a model form. The students benefited from small group sizes and high staff ratios.

Voucher incentive scheme

Students were offered the opportunity to earn reward vouchers. These were awarded to students who made the most progress over the Autumn term.

English

Reading intervention

Students identified as achieving below a level 4 at KS2 Reading tests were targeted utilising the Read, Write, Ink and Sound reading intervention programmes. Students were tested and received one to one reading support appropriate for their level.

English catch up day

Students took part in an English catch up day. English staff developed a series of activities designed to target key literacy skills and worked with students all day.

Maths

TLC Live Online Maths support

Students worked with Maths tutors from TLC live. Students received an hour’s tutoring per week through an interactive online system. The students were initially assessed and then received targeted support that was tailored to their learning needs. A final assessment provided the school with in depth data that informed the students’ classroom teaching.

IMPACT

English

Year 7 Catch up students

End of KS2

End of Y7

Average level

B

3a

Average point score from KS2

6.42

% students reached 4c by end of yr7

41

Maths

Year 7 Catch up students

End of KS2

End of Y7

Average level

2

3c

Average point score from KS2

1.17

% students reached 4c by end of yr7

20

There has been a considerable impact on those eligible for the Catch Up Premium in English and we have continued to work on strategies that have the same impact on low attainers in Maths.